C O N T E X T 1 5 0 : J U L Y 2 0 1 7 43 Vox pop Tom Copp Who has been your greatest inspiration? As with many people reading this, I slightly fell into conservation and heritage by accident – largely thanks to Rebecca Madgin, who taught me a module on conservation during the third year of my history degree. Rebecca’s knowledge of conservationled regeneration schemes in various cities provided the inspiration first for my dissertation and second to enrol in an urban conservation MA. I have been fortunate to have been able to take this knowledge into my career and I have worked on a number of high-profile regeneration schemes during my time at CgMs. My colleagues at CgMs, both young and old, provide constant challenges and inspiration. What has been your best idea? These have been disappointingly few and far between, but deciding to study history at university worked out surprisingly well. I have made a number of great friends during and since university, and found a career that I thoroughly enjoy. What would you like to have been if you had not become a conservationist? At the time of writing the British and Irish Lions tour is under way. I would love to have been a professional rugby player but the reality is far more mundane. How do you reply when at a party someone asks what you do? I tell them that I am a heritage consultant, to which the usual response is a blank expression. Once I explain that I get to spend my time looking around old buildings, some of which have been unseen for years, they usually become slightly more engaged. What is the biggest frustration in your job? As with most people it is that there are not enough hours in the day. I am fortunate that I get to travel around the UK visiting some amazing sites and buildings as part of my job, but all too often I can’t linger because I have to get back to write the reports. What would you like to be doing in five years’ time? More of the same (having played for the Lions in South Africa in four years’ time). What is your favourite building? I have two, rather contrasting, favourites. The first is the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, more commonly known simply as Palermo Cathedral. It neatly summarises Sicilian architectural history, being an elaborate mixture of baroque, renaissance and gothic styles, with more than a passing nod to the earlier Arabic architecture of the island, in a striking location as you rise from the city centre. And you can go on the roof, which is always nice. My second is Lasdun’s National Theatre, a concrete masterpiece. Denys Lasdun’s listed National Theatre, completed in 1976
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgyMjA=